For Palestinian Land Day: An Interview With Barbara Sosof.

In a region where expressions of Palestine solidarity are rare, a group of artists in the Guatemalan town of Santiago, on Lake Atitlan, created some beautiful art on this wharf- making the connection between the on-going genocide in Palestine and the genocide that took place in Guatemala during the 36-year armed conflict.

In the middle are the 10 commandments- Thou shalt not kill, Love thy neighbour, etc. in the Mayan language of Tz’utujil.

On the occasion of Palestine Land Day, March 30, 2025, we spoke to Mayan mural artist Barbara Sosof, the leader of the collective who created this work.

How did you come up with the idea for this mural? It is a beautiful piece of public art, impressive from the road where I first saw it.

Our collective (Tz’Qat) joined forces with other allies, friends aware of human rights violations around the world; but we thought that before raising our voices for others, we should also think about our people, about our local history, which has seen terrible things, surviving hunger, natural catastrophes, massacres, wars, genocide, etc. So we know what it feels like to live under threat every day and to wonder whether your neighbor, your friends from school, your cousins, grandparents, aunts were going to be alive, or kidnapped, disappeared at dawn and with no defense or refuge. 

We connect our reality, to that of Palestine and other countries where there is genocide and where human rights organizations say nothing, nor the media. So we decided to use art as a tool for peaceful resistance and to speak out on behalf of other human beings around the world whose voices have been silenced.

The lyrics we wrote are the commandments from the Hebrew Bible that everyone has read and heard throughout their lives, in Protestant and Catholic churches and other religions; we wrote them in our Mayan Tzutujil language and also in other languages; Spanish, English and Arabic.

How did you choose the location?

We had decided to intervene in a smaller space on a main road in the village, but one afternoon I decided to go to the pier to read, meditate and spend the afternoon watching the sunset. it occurred to me that one of my favorite places was a good place to intervened with art and talk about the reality of the struggles of my people and connect the same sad reality in Palestine, thinking of the girls, boys, women , men and other inhabitants who are uprooted from their own land.

The (Tz’Qat )collective has painted murals in the village and as the coordinator, people in my community know that I am responsible for the collective's projects with the support of the community.

I spoke to one of the people in charge of that beach, and he agreed immediately to our conditions that we could paint whatever the collective decided, as long as it was a gift.  

Who worked with you?

The artists' collective is made up of 5 members: 4 visual artists and muralists and another person who provides support to the artists.

For this project, other allies who feel the same indignation about the issue joined us to do this project. In total, 12 people were painting the background, the letters and details. The large images were created by professional artists from Santiago Atitlán.

Has there been any reaction from the authorities?

A day after the art was finished, there were rumors that a group of Protestants had gone to the town hall asking the mayor to intervene, because they considered the theme of the mural to be an offense against the people of God. I was a bit worried when I heard the news, but then I thought if anything happened to the mural, I could repaint it as many times as it took;  but a month has passed, and the mural is being enjoyed by many local people and foreigners.

The pier wasn’t a place that was frequented by the community, but after we painted the mural there, the place has become very popular…it is a recreational space and one to make visitors think.

Thank you very much for your important work!